Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to diagnostic systems, methods and devices, and in particular to systems and methods that automate evaluation of data and rendering of a diagnosis based on the same.
Description of the Related Art
Many medical practitioners rely on pulse or palpation to assess a wellness of individuals or patients. For example, in Western medicine, physicians and other health care providers typically measure blood pressure and pulse rate as part of a standard or conventional physical examination. Measuring pulse rate typically requires a finger and a timer or clock. Measuring blood pressure typically requires an inflatable cuff and a sphygmomanometer. Typically two measurements are taken, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, which represent the maximum and minimum pressure, typically in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). In some instances, Western medical practitioners may measure other parameters which are somewhat indicative of various characteristics of blood flow, for example measuring electrical activity of a heart (i.e., electrocardiogram) via leads that are responsive to electromagnetic signals produced as part of the function of the heart.
Some practitioners of non-Western medicine rely more on measurement of pulse than practitioners of Western medicine. For example, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) often take a pulse of a patient and may render a diagnosis based at least in part, if not solely, on the patient's pulse. While such technique has likely been employed for over a thousand years, there tends to be a wide range in variability associated with such technique. For example, there is substantial variability in how one practitioner senses or interprets pulse relative to another practitioner, or even from day-to-day or patient-to-patient for a given practitioner. Likewise, there is substantial variability in resulting diagnoses between different practitioners given the same or very similar pulses, as well as variability in resulting diagnoses by a given practitioner given the same or very similar pulses.